Latino Daily News

8 Die in Colombia in World Cup Celebrations

The celebration of Colombia’s 2-0 World Cup victory over Uruguay, a win that earned the nation a berth in the quarterfinals of the soccer tourney in Brazil, took the lives of eight people in Bogota, Mayor Gustavo Petro said Sunday.

“The result of the celebration in Bogota of yesterday’s match is very bad. Shortly, the announcement of the facts will be made. Eight people died in hospitals,” Petro said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.

On Saturday night, it was learned that a 25-year-old woman had been hit and killed by a stray bullet in Bosa, a residential section of the capital, but details on the rest of the fatalities are still unavailable.

After the deaths of nine people in Bogota during the celebrations following Colombia’s first World Cup victory, a 3-0 blowout over Greece on June 14, local authorities implemented a series of measures to try and avoid violent acts.

The measures, including the “dry law” prohibiting the purchase, sale and consumption of alcohol, bore fruit after the team’s next two matches, which were played over the past week, when no further fatalities were reported.

The dry law was also put in place in other cities around the country, including Cali, Cucuta, Valledupar and Bucaramanga, as well as in six provinces, including Boyaca, Cordoba and Valle del Cauca.

Other measures were implemented in some of these regions, including a curfew for minors, a prohibition on the purchase and sale of various items used during the celebrations and a ban on carrying weapons.

Although data is not yet available from the entire country, authorities also reported one murder in the town of Sogamoso, in Boyaca.